Personality Theory free essay sample

Personality Theory Abstract In the past few weeks we have explored human personality development as theorized by some of the world’s most recognized, respected and celebrated psychologists in the field of psychoanalysis. People exists in a culture dependant on social interactions whether it be in their immediate family structure or outside in a community basis, individual personality and behavior reflects who we are as a person. This paper will attempt to analyze and apply the personality theories of Adler, Kelly, and Maslow that best describe the 1986 fictional film character, Forrest Gump. A man who through most of his life was ridiculed because of his slow learning disability and was made to feel inferior by everyone he came in contact with except for his mom, childhood sweetheart and the best friend he had when he was in the military. The film itself is based on his unique personality and his own ambiguous perception of the world around him as he reflects on his life’s challenges, quoting anecdotes from his â€Å"mama† that instilled the honesty, integrity and shear simplicity of mind of Forrest Gump. Unacceptable to the public who viewed children as being innocent and not involved with sexuality. Freud then proposed his libido theory (theory of lust); revised later Freud became aware of the importance of his patients dreams, which provided evidence regarding the conflicts and revealed the secrets of the unconscious mind. 1 900 list b Ned The Interpret t TA ion to Dreams 1902, Freud started the Wednesday night meetings including scholars who discussed their works they published and many other books published between 1908 and 1906. Frauds books considered shocking by the public and became unpopular; a person obsessed with sexuality. Wednesday night meetings changed to Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. In 1910 some of his students began to leave him for many reasons. Alfred Adler and Carl Jung were the most important ones. Disagreed on the importance of sexuality in determining behaviors. Jung departure was extremely painful to Freud Frauds thinking was influenced by World War l, the mass killing and suffering. Proposed his death instinct, opposing the life instinct. Wrote many other books and continued his practice in Vienna until the Nazis came to power in the sass. Hitler and anti-Semitism forced many Jews to immigrate to the United States and leave Austria. 938, Germany invaded Austria, Freud reluctantly left his home and went to England. He died in London in 1939. During the last years of his life, Freud suffered from cancer of the Jaw and mouth. L. Concepts and Principles The Role of Conscious, Preconscious and Unconscious Forces in Personality According to Freud, the human mental apparatus was divided into three parts: Conscious refers to present awareness of what happens ar ound us. Preconscious contains experiences that are almost unconscious, but can be readily accessible. Unconscious is the deepest level of personality, consisting of all childhood memories, which are not readily accessible. Instincts: The Driving Forces in Personality Our instincts (unlearned, inherited behaviors) are placed in our unconscious mind, governing our behavior. Instincts, according to Freud, have four basic characteristics: The source: physiological functions of the body of the instinct The impetus: the force of the instinct The aim: gratification The object: through which the instinct achieves its aim Life instinct (Eros) motivates us towards achievement of gratifying goals in life. The energy of life instinct is called libido. Freud had originally related libido to sexual instinct, but later changed his views and related it to all pleasurable feelings associated with life instinct. Death instinct (thanes) according to Freud the goal of all life is death, where there is no painful struggle to satisfy biological needs. Aggression is related to death instinct Structural Theory of Personality Freud proposed three personality structures: old rooted in the biology and operates on the theory of instincts. Everyone is born with id manifested in various instincts. Major instincts include sex and aggression. old follows neither moral code nor any social or religious rules. old follows the pleasure principle maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain Ego as the infant develops, s/he relates to the environment and a part of id begins to change to form ego. Gradually, ego differentiates from id and provides realistic direction for the persons impulses. Ego keeps the impulses in check and follows the reality principle; it is the rational part of our personality. Superego the child develops within the family environment. The parents or caregivers tell the child what to do and what not to do. The dos and dont of parents form what is called by Freud as the childs superego which is completely formed by the age of seven. Superego is the initialization of societal aloes Freud believed superego had two major parts, the conscience and the ego ideal. The first is developed through the use of punishment by the parents and the second, through the use of reward. The main function of superego is to inhibit and control the demands of id and persuade ego to substitute moralistic goals instead of realistic goals. The superego may have negative sides, by being too harsh or demanding, causing anxiety and guilt Defense Mechanism According to Freud, the ego tries to serve both the desires of id and the demands of the superego by creating a balance in the personality structure. Such a lance creates normal personality functions If the balance is disturbed either by id wanting more gratifications of its instincts or by superego demanding moral and ethical principles, ego needs to engage in certain activities to bring about the balance. The conflict between id and superego is very unpleasant, since it creates anxiety, which is a very unpleasant emotion. Ego has to deal with anxiety and adopt measures to reduce it. Other sources of threat from the environment such as unemployment, death or divorce, accidents create anxiety as well. In order to deal with various types of anxieties, ego mobiles defense exchanges, ways of dealing with unpleasant situations. At first, these defenses are conscious, then gradually become unconscious and their use will cause more problems for the person Repression is an attempt by the ego to keep undesirable impulses from reaching the conscious level; pushing away such impulses into the unconscious mind; forgetting. Results in creating complexes in the unconscious mind which later demonstrates various symptoms of illness Suppression is similar to repression, except that the person knows s/ wish to remember a painful event en does not Denial is to refuse to accept a painful reality. It is similar to lying. Displacement is when there is an unconscious shift of emotions, affect, or desires from the original object to a more acceptable or immediate substitute Sublimation is modifying the natural expression of an impulse or instinct (especially a sexual one) to one that is socially acceptable. Regression is to go back to an earlier or less mature pattern of feeling or behavior Projection is the attribution of ones own attitudes, feelings, or desires to someone or something, blaming others for their shortcomings. Reaction formation is when an objectionable impulse is expressed in an opposite or contrasting behavior. For example, showing love instead of hate. Rationalization is when your true motivation is concealed by bringing irrational excuses. Undoing is the act of reversing something unacceptable to superego. Compromise formation two contradictory statements or behaviors are related together Intellectualized is an unconscious meaner of protecting oneself from the emotional stress and anxiety associated with confronting painful personal fears or problems by excessive reasoning. Ill. Personality Development 1 The Theory of Psychosocial Development Normal development, according to Freud involves a series to stages trot the moment of birth to about age eighteen, during which libido demonstrates its effects in various stages. Libido relates to sexual impulses, and the stages are called the psychosocial stages. Freud warns us about over-indulgence (giving too much) and under- indulgence (giving too little) to the child during the various psychosocial stages of development, especially in the first seven years. Over-indulgence results in fixation of personality in a specific stage Under-indulgence results in regression of personality to an earlier stage Both are unhealthy for normal personality development Stage of Narcissism birth to six months The infants ego has not yet developed and the infant is completely governed by id impulse. Over-indulgence in this stage results in the development of narcissistic personality (character) demonstrating self-love and narcissistic needs Oral stage six months to two years Gradually, ego differentiates from id. However, libido is focused in the mouth cavity (an erogenous zone). Pleasurable sensations occur when the infant takes food or water. Fixation in the oral stage results in oral personality (character) marked by sire to satisfy oral needs such as over-eating or talking too much. Anal Stage two years to four years In western cultures, this is the period to toilet training . Libido is now touched in the anal cavity (an erogenous zone), which brings about pleasurable sensations. Cleanliness is emphasized with emphasis on regulating bathroom needs. Too much emphasis on toilet training or cleanliness results in anal personality (character) showing obsessive-compulsive behavior. Fixation in this stage results in frugality and obstinate behavior. Phallic Stage four years to six years Libido now focuses in the erogenous zone related to sexual organs. The child enjoys touching his/her genitals, or showing them to others. This is the beginning of exhibitionists tendencies. Fixation in this stage results in phallic character marked by concerns regarding sexuality with exhibitionists or voyeuristic tendencies. At the end of this period, about age six, the child has to solve two major complexes. The boy solves the Oedipus Complex (his abnormal love for the mother figure) by identification with the father figure The girl solves the Electra Complex (her abnormal love for the father) by identification tit the mother figure. The results of such identification pave the way for future healthy development Latency Stage six years to twelve years Latency stage is the period of colonization. Apparently there is no preoccupation with sexuality in this period. The child attends school and makes friends and develops social relationships until puberty. Genital Stage twelve years to eighteen years During adolescent period, the adolescent boy or girl becomes interested in the opposite sex and gradually mature, adult, heterosexual relationships develop, which according to Freud are completed about age eighteen. Normal person, according to Freud makes adjustments in two major areas: love and work. The genital character (personality) is the ideal type. These people are sexually mature; they nave taunt their love objects (the opposite sex). They can love and be loved, which is the key to happiness. Genital characters can also sublimate their id impulses by expressing them in the form of productive and creative work. V. Assessment Techniques Free Association The technique of free association used by Freud in treating his patients involved the patients self-reports of whatever came to his/her mind no matter how rival or unimportant or irrelevant it seemed to appear. The patient was instructed to place no sensors on what came to his/her mind and report them faithfully. Freud called free association the fundamental rule of psychoanalysis. To facilitate free association, the patient usually reclined on a couch while the therapist would place himself/herself behind the patient Sometimes patients do not free associate due to resistance, or they may find it difficult to continue with free association. As the therapy sessions continue, both the resistance and inability to free associate disappear. Free association is the best teeth of making unconscious thoughts conscious; unconscious repressed materials are gradually revealed in the contents of free association Dream Analysis Freud placed great emphasis on dream analysis. Dreams are the royal road to unconscious Each dream is composed of two parts: Manifest content: what we see in our dreams Latent content: what the symbols in our dreams actually represent All psycho-dynamically oriented therapists use dream analysis while treating their patients. Freud believed the symbols in our dreams have universal meanings; symbols sometimes have multiple meanings. Freud also believed that dreams are mimed towards wish fulfillment. These wishes are usually unconscious and not acceptable to the person and are erotic in nature. These erotic wishes express themselves in our dreams in disguised manner, since even their expression during sleep is not allowed. Therefore, they indirectly express themselves in the forms of symbols. The task of the psychoanalyst is to discover the manifest content and reveal the latent content of the dream which leads to the repressed wish Transference Freud placed much emphasis on the process of transference. During the course of the treatment, the patient develops positive or negative linings for the therapist, which are called transference. This is because patients see the therapist as the important figures in their past life, targeting love and hate towards him/her. Freud felt the transference process was characterized by ambivalence (love/hate relationship). Patients often show both positive and negative feelings towards their therapist. In positive transference the patient develops affectionate feelings towards the therapist. Frauds female patients expressed much love and affection toward him. It is highly possible that the therapist also develops feelings of positive or negative auteur towards his/her patients counter-transference. Too much positive or negative counter-transference interferes with the treatment of the patient. The therapist should always remember his ethical and moral obligations to the patient. They should not act on their feelings of counter-transference (unless they ask for a law suit). Self analysis or asking for help from a colleague can help reduce counter-transference Positive transference is effective for treatment. In many instances, however, positive transference is followed by negative transference when patients begin to demonstrate intense hostility and anger awards the therapist. Using interpretation, Freud would point out to the patient that their negative feelings stemmed from childhood and past life events and were displaced on him during the therapy sessions. Gradually, the patients developed insight regarding their feelings towards the therapist and negative transference disappeared V. Some Important Terminology Psychopathology The study of the origin, development, and manifestations of mental or behavioral disorders. Neurosis Any of various mental or emotional disorders, such as hypochondria or neurasthenia, arising from no apparent physical cause involving symptoms such s insecurity, anxiety, depression, and irrational fears, but without psychotic symptoms such as delusions or hallucinations. Psychosis Severe mental disorder, with or without physical damage, characterized by loss of contact with reality and causing deterioration of normal social functioning. Psychoanalysis The method of psychological therapy originated by Sigmund Freud in which free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of resistance and transference are used to explore repressed or unconscious impulses, anxieties, and internal conflicts, in order to free psychic energy for mature love and work.